Beating The Odds: UFC on FX 3

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The battle between Scott Jorgensen and former World Extreme Cagefighting champion Eddie Wineland was voted onto the UFC on FX 3 main card by fight fans as part of Harley-Davidson’s “Hometown Throwdown” contest, and the two bantamweights did not disappoint. They walked away from the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., on Friday with cool $40,000 bonuses for “Fight of the Night” honors.

Wineland came into the fight as a +155 underdog, compared to Jorgensen’s -185 odds, according to BetDSI.com. The self-described “corn-fed hillbilly from Indiana” had a solid run in the WEC before crossing over to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, winning four out of five bouts in 2009 and 2010. Perhaps his poor odds in this bout were due to his prior UFC performance, with Wineland having suffered back-to-back losses to Team Alpha Male standouts Urijah Faber and Joseph Benavidez. However, the fact that neither of the two top 135ers could put away Wineland was a testament to his determination and skill.

WIneland put on a striking clinic in his fight with Jorgensen, showcasing stellar footwork and a slick series of combinations. He was able to avoid many of Jorgensen’s takedowns or scramble right back up to his feet to keep the fight where he wanted it. Of course, Wineland managed to fight through an enormous facial gash and still come out ahead, ending the bout by handing “Young Guns” his first loss via knockout.

Also winning against the odds was Matt Grice, who came in at +100 odds compared to opponent Leonard Garcia’s -140.

Love him or hate him, Garcia is often favored to win fights because of his reckless striking, despite his recent. If one of those wild shots lands, the opponent is likely going down. Past finishes against Jens Pulver and Hiroyuki Takaya raised Garcia’s profile.

Grice, who went 1-3 in the UFC during his first stint with the promotion from April 2007 to June 2009, worked his way back to the Octagon with four straight wins in smaller organizations. His first fight back in the UFC resulted in a first-round technical knockout loss to Ricardo Lamas. Although not many expected much out of the four-time Oklahoma state wrestling champion, Grice put his takedowns and ground-and-pound to work, keeping Garcia on his back and out of his element, ultimately cementing a decision victory.

Dustin Pague defied the odds by defeating former King of the Cage champion Jared Papazian. A semifinalist on Season 14 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Pague did not fare too well in his first UFC bout on the finale, where he suffered an unceremonious TKO loss to John Albert a little more than a minute into the first round. Pague came into this bout with +117 odds. Papazian, at -147, also lost his UFC debut but not in as decisive a fashion; he simply ended up on the wrong side of a majority decision after facing Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Mike Easton.

Pague’s submission victory over Papazian was textbook; he landed a series of elbows from mount, smoothly transitioned to rear mount, locked up a body triangle and then patiently fished for a rear-naked choke for the win.

The fourth and final fighter to defy the odds on this card was Sean Pierson (+125), who defeated Jake Hecht (-155) by unanimous decision. Although Hecht had Pierson’s back on a couple of occasions, he was unable to capitalize, as Pierson effectively scrambled for better positions. He also landed some takedowns of his own, as well as some nice combinations.

After defeating Matt Riddle in his promotional debut at UFC 124, Pierson suffered back-to-back losses to Jake Ellenberger and Dong Hyun Kim. Hecht, meanwhile, scored an impressive victory against American Top Team’s Rich Attonito but was quickly armbarred by T.J. Waldburger at UFC on FX 2. The Fiore MMA product has now lost two in a row.